The Uncharted Isles
by Reasons of Heart
Summary: How Alex managed to *cough* *cough* infiltrate Ayuthay. Based off of TLA and DD.
1. Miraculous Blue, the Guardian

A/N:

Truthshipping obviously.

Story is based off the event of Golden Sun: The Lost Age and Dark Dawn. I've had this on my computer for a long time so I thought I might as well put share it because who doesn't want to know how our beloved villain managed to er infiltrate Ayuthay.

The most recent game is about eight years old, but still I find the graphics and the wonder of the places in the game pretty memorable. Probably not the best decision to start with Dark Dawn because I was clueless whenever they were talking about their parents. To my defense, I was literally almost a baby when the first Golden Sun came out on GBA. Anyway, I played the older games right after so don't worry I have the full Golden Sun experience.

I separated chapter 1 in parts A and B because I wanted to do a prologue because I wanted the first part to have a title and you can't very well have a prologue with a title.

Cover photo borrowed from RennyRensaur's GGDD: Smile on deviantart.

* * *

The Uncharted Isles

Chapter 1A: Miraculous Blue, the Guardian

Slowly entering the room and shutting the door without a sound, Veriti released a very unladylike yawn. She turned to face the long oval mirror as she ran her fingertips through her hair.

It was an especially stressful day listening to the citizens' complaints. Time after time she found herself sitting ramrod straight, on the verge of losing her composure due to the redundancy of their contentions. The responsibilities of being the sister of the king didn't bother her. Her chilly demeanor and regal composure in court made her the epitome of a noble of Ayuthay.

Removing her elaborately ornamented robes, she stared at the mirror seeming to be displeased. Then glancing at the waning crescent behind, she quickly ruined the traditional coiled braids the took nearly an hour to complete, allowing her chestnut brown hair to cascade past her shoulders.

She had had more than enough stress today, she contemplated, settling on top of her coverlets. I'm not magician, not an Adept, just a ruler watching her people suffer severe drought, she thoughts miserably. Veriti pushed the soft glow of her zol lantern away to the far end of her room and gave one last glance at the sliver of the moon that remained before closing her eyes.

Enough is enough. She wished her brain would just forget everything and be at peace for a moment. Many hours later, her troubled thoughts rewarded her with a deeper sleep than she normally experienced.

With the agility and balance of a feline, a figure lingered along the shadows of her window sill. Completely motionless except for his eyes which traced the movement of the sleeping figure. Unbeknownst to him, another person was watching the sneaking mercenary.

Mildly curious in discovering the assassin's objective, the distant figure concealed himself along the roof and waited for him to leave the shadow. After all, it wasn't every day that you see a mercenary using a cloak ball.

Black gloved hands slid the ancient window open without a single creak. Unbeknownst to him, he was not in the safest position. In swift and soundless footsteps, he covered the princess' mouth and tied her wrists together expertly with one hand.

Veriti awoke with a nagging sense that she forgot what her dream was – a far less dire situation than she was tied into. As startled as she was seeing the figure clad in black, she was even more frightened when he tilted her head toward his.

"Listen, princess," he began using a low voice. "I know exactly who you are and you will be kept safe as long as you stay quiet and do what I say."

She blinked, too stunned with fear to respond.

"Good, because if not, I would have had to," he looked down and unsheathed one of the many knives he was carrying. "Get up and we'll be on our way."

"No."

She'd finally mustered the bravery to respond even if it came out quietly.

"Shut up," he responded in a sharp tone. "I didn't ask for your opinion."

Then, was her step of foolishness.

"Do what you will, but I will never leave Ayuthay."

Immediately, she regretted her words when she received a brutal blow that send her flying to the floor, clutching her bloodied face. Though she could feel warm tears reflexively stream down her face, she through, through gritted teeth, kept her composure.

"Leave Ayuthay and you will be spared."

"Spared?" he growled.

Leaping off the window sill, he slammed her against the cool stone floor. She could feel the deep zol line pressed against her back. Guards, can't you hear that, she hoped.

"Let me go, you brute. I'm not leaving as a ransom," she yelled. "Do you not see how desolate Ayuthay already is?"

The dark figure grabbed a handful of cloth and stuffed it into her mouth before she said more. Out of thin area, another figure materialized from outside to directly in front of the assassin.

"Would you happen to be from Kaocho?" a voice asked neutrally.

Hearing guards scuttling below, the man yanked the princess to her feet and dragged her toward the window.

"You know, I really don't like it when people ignore my questions."

Veriti didn't like the sound of his voice. She wasn't sure if he was battling to kidnap her as well or trying to help her out.

The assassin's eyes narrowed. This was the only perceptible change in his expression as the rest of his body was cloaked in the soundless suave of his light body armor.

"I came from a village in the desert," came his brusque reply.

As he took another step, the hooded man reappeared, blocking the assassin's exit. Now, Veriti could see the other person in full form. It was a hooded man wearing a white mask covering the top part of his face. His hair appeared to be a brilliant blue under the moonlight, but Veriti thought her eyes were deceiving her. Just as it had been when she had seen the Sand Prince pacing in his tomb.

"Now before you dispatch me," the hooded figure continued with a playful tone. "I was wondering what this is."

He held up a black tassel. Veriti shivered as she saw the rising dragon in silver thread that was formed above the wind-whisked tendrils of the bottom of the tassel. The pain at the back of her head persisted. Black spots clouded her vision. Maybe she hadn't seen it right.

"I don't know about you, but I've only seen this for those who swear allegiance to Kaocho," Alex stated, enjoying the assassin's discomfort.

"Whether I stole it from a man I killed or not," the assassin responded with a cutting tone, as he unsuccessfully tried to take it from his grasp. "It's none of your business."

"Oh, but it is," Alex smirked. "Do you think that by trying to expand outside the pea-sized kingdom of Kaocho, you can take over Ei-Jei? Why not strike when Ayuthay is prosperous and green again?"

"Kaocho will grow to take over all of Angara, if it has to," the assassin countered.

Veriti wanted to ease the pain in her head, but simply could not. She had to keep her mind clear for Ayuthay.

"That's a little pompous of you to say," Alex challenged, tossing the tassel into the air. With disdain, he watched the usual pattern of the assassin fly into rage, manipulated by his emotions. All humans were the same. "Perhaps I should show up in Kaocho to tell King Wo that you failed your mission, that you gave up and renounce your allegiance."

"He would never believe an outsider…" the assassin responded on edge.

"Really?" Alex pondered. "I thought I might as well try."

"You wouldn't dare," came the mercenary's voice.

Lightning fast, a knife appeared pressed against Veriti's neck, sending her wide-eyed and trembling in submission.

"Think fast. Is she worth more alive or dead?" the assassin asked, thinking the masked man wanted to kidnap her as well.

"Whatever you say," came the masked man's eerie reply.

Two smaller throwing knives flew towards the masked man's vitals while the assassin still held the knife against her trembling body.

However, the knives clanged harmlessly against the wall. Where had he gone, the assassin wondered frantically, pivoting on one foot to locate him.

"Come out and show yourself, coward!"

"I didn't know a Kaocho assassin could be that far off the mark," Alex said from behind the man.

Insulting his skill triggered a barrage of weapons. Even with Alex's speed as a Mercury Adept, he couldn't avoid every knife. Instinctively, a wall of ice clattered against the knives, rendering them ineffective. It melted away, leaving the assassin stunned. He could sense this was going to be an unfair battle.

Reaching for the Cloak Ball, he stole a long time ago, he disappeared with Veriti into the shadows. She hated being a pawn, more than anything else. At least no one could hear or see the choking sobs that wracked her body, with a cloth over her mouth.

"We can play that game," came Alex's distant voice.

Narrowly avoiding a Whirlwind, the assassin ran toward the window, still hidden.

A ninja never fell.

And yet a strange gale force pulled him into the room once more. Spinning and spinning, he tried to protect the dizzy princess. She had to be delivered in one piece after all. Shards of air intensified their fury, beating and bashing the experienced yet unprepared assassin. Finally, the rattled assassin landed less than gracefully with Veriti under one arm.

It had the desired effect of rendering the cloaked figure back into a visible form.

Shattered glass from the window, alerting even more guards below.

Suddenly dropping the princess on the ground, Veriti struggled to stay conscious with the pain the gripped her from all sides.

"Let's play fair," the assassin said, unsheathing his sword.

"It you say so," Alex entertained, withdrawing his Verdant Sword.

The melee dance began. Sword clanged against sword as Veriti closed her eyes, succumbing to the darkness around her. She was so very fatigued, tired of pain, tired of living.

Barely avoiding a thrust from Alex, the assassin met it head-on with a series of small incisions to his arms and legs. With Alex's speed, most did not land, but they still made Alex's form slightly unbalanced, forcing him to back up.

Once the assassin's blade reached his, which was not long, Alex brought his sword down in a criss-cross cutting motion.

Fortunately, Alex's experience with the blade worked to his advantage. Out from his sword came fierce vine and undergrowth. Vorpal Slash.

"Hey, that was…" the assassin hesitated.

"It wasn't Psynergy," Alex finished. Using Psynergy, Alex raised the assassin in the air by his neck. "Are we done fighting fair? I doubt you fought very fairly against the princess."

"May the …Grave Eclipse," the assassin choked out, "be …your end."

A geyser shot up from the ground, startling Veriti, who warily opened her eyes. Powerfully, it punctured the assassin's lungs and left him a watery mess, struggling to breathe.

Alex didn't waste time watching him die and quickly appeared at the side of the fallen princess.

There wasn't much time since people without Psynergy could die so easily. It was a miracle she was still conscious. To make matters worse, he never carried any Water of Life.

Carefully reaching under her, he lifted her onto her bed. With a gentle hand on her chin, he tilted her head up. Veriti met his gaze with the same intensity. There was still life in her.

"Ply well," he spoke in a low voice.

It came from within. Veriti was surprised that it felt like she had healed herself though she knew it was this mysterious person's doing.

Touching her healed face in awe, she looked at him with verdant curiosity.

"How?"

"That is for another day," he responded.

Upon closer inspection, she realized his hair was completely blue. A teal color that was the essence of Mercury.

There was a rumbling in the wall and the door burst open. Turning to look at the guards, Veriti didn't notice the mysterious man was gone. Many people burst through the door all at once. The healer made it there first.

"She is, by some miracle, completely unscathed," he informed the concerned guards.

Veriti tried to relax and process all that happened but the worried conversations of the guards, the dead man on the ground, and the king at the door prevented her from peace. She sat, feeling extremely underdressed and flustered by the pitying looks everyone gave her.

Despising the embarrassing attention, she stood up a bit dizzily. She caught the gaze of her older brother the king, and everyone quieted down to see what she had to say.

"The Guardian of Insight protected me from harm. He rose from his desert slumber to protect Ayuthay," she proclaimed. "Carry on with your stations."

As they began to leave, the king's words stopped them.

"You are certain you will need no extra guards nearby for the night?"

"I am fine, Paithos," she responded with a haughty look.

"Alright, if you say so," he agreed reluctantly. "Two men outside her window. Two men in the hallway by her door. Two men at ground level. Assemble yourselves. I want you to double your search patterns."

Several of the guards carried the assassin's body out and returned to their stations. Most of them remained though.

"Milady," a soft voice addressed her. It was the well-liked council member whose large crescent-shaped eyes and sweet laughter made everyone forget her nosiness and criticism.

"What is it, Sariah?"

"It has occurred to me that you are the Bearer of Wisdom with a Guardian to protect you, but what about your people dying of drought?"

"If you would kindly let me explain..."

"With your gift of Insight, you haven't saved a single farmer from his crop failures."

"Gentle with your words, Lady Sariah," the king warned. "She is my sister."

Suddenly, a horrible thought crossed her mind.

"The Guardian," she exclaimed. "The princess will beseech him to bring back the waters."

The guards cheered in response and the king's displeasure went unnoticed.

"As shrewd an advisor you are," the king began. "Do not make false proclamations about my sister."

"She said it herself," Sariah frowned. Her crescent-shaped eyes accepted a downcast expression contrary to her bright personality. Seeing the king's conflicted expression, she rushed out of the room. The rest of the guards left, leaving her with her brother.

"Don't take her words to heart, Veriti. They wound me as much as they wound you," he spoke softly.

"Please, Veriti," he pleaded with his hands on her shoulders. Then, giving his sister a hug, he advised her again. "Let go of your pride this time. I know you were hurt. I can see the confusion in your eyes. It's fine to be wary for now. This crime won't go unpunished."

"Also, there's something I need to tell you about this Guardian, but I will not worry you until the morning."

"Sleep well, sister."


	2. Behind the Crow's Gaze

The Uncharted Isles

Chapter 1B: Behind the Crow's Gaze

The King's usually nonchalant expression twisted into a noticeable grimace when he saw the garb of the assassin.

"Search him for weapons," the head of the intelligence committee ordered. It was actually a small rudimentary arrangement of military officials that led the committee. They were largely inactive because Ayuthay, despite the fertile crescent that it was, was almost guaranteed peace with its neighbors. To the north lay Passaj and to the west lay Harapa. They were all of the same ethnicity and embraced their Jenei ancestors so there was always a strong friendship. To the east was Kaocho who saw themselves as superior since they were part of the vast Sanan empire, but to their knowledge, was still on peaceful terms with them.

A soldier peeled back the cloak to reveal a large variety of weapons. Metal clanged against metal as the weapons clattered onto a wooden table. There was a dozen or so small throwing knives and a sword. Paithos shook his head in disbelief. Veriti's life stood by only a thread of chance. Although the king was always pressuring his sister to end her self-imposed celibacy, at this point, he didn't care that she shirked her duty to bear an heir, only that she was safe and free.

"Are you alright, Your Majesty? It is late. We can continue the investigation while you get some rest if you wish."

Almost impatiently, he responded. "I shall stay. I can stay awake as long as it means keeping my sister alive."

"I am sorry, Your Majesty," the captain replied nervously. "I did not mean to offend. We shall proceed."

"The sword," Paithos insisted.

"It looks like it's either from Sana or Kaocho," the weapons master observed. Staring at the hilt deep in thought, he ran his fingers over the hilt. Almost too small and etched on the bottom of the hilt, he revealed a dragon etched across the hilt when the moonlight shone on it.

"What are you thinking?" asked the king.

"Well," he verbalized his reasoning. "It is not straight enough to be just a common sword, yet it is not angled enough to be a corsair's."

At the very mention of the Champa pirates, they all froze in disgust.

"From the quality of the sword," he continued. "It doesn't match any Passaj or Ayuthay make so it could be from anywhere else in Angara."

"Champa," the captain of the southern Ayuthay proclaimed angrily. "It could be a ship with a cursed flag. It almost matches the description of one."

"Those sea-marauding dogs," the king seethed in a low voice. "Send for the master blacksmith and the Elders of Passaj. If they are from Champa, we will crush them once again. As for Kaocho, they are too strong, even if we forge better weapons."

Together, they searched for other identifying features. When they removed his mask, a fine black cloth encircled his head and beneath it lay the gaunt face of the assassin painted black except for the region about the eyes.

"But look," one of them noted. "Right above the temple, where the skin is not painted."

"A moon?"

"Yes," another replied. "but it glows around a black sphere."

"As if a dark force is blocking it."

"The outline of the moon is like the finality of light. A terrible farewell," observed Paithos. "I will let Veriti know, she knows more of prophecies than I do."

"Or Lady Sariah," the weapons master suggested. "We hear she is a voice of clarity and reason at your council."

"She certainly is outspoken," Paithos responded with a cutting tone. "but she knows far less lore then Veriti."

"We can find nothing else on the assassin," the head of the committee announced. "He carries no currency by which we can identify. The paint makes it difficult to say where he is from, but the shape of the eyes is barbarian."

"More animal, less man?" the captain of the guard suggested.

"Belinsk is a possibility," the committee head acknowledged. "Among Sana, Kaocho, Champa..."

"Send messengers to Passaj," the king ordered. "Also, to the master craftsman of each guild. We need to get to the bottom of this. Tomorrow."

The captain bowed. "As you wish, my lord."

"The rest of you are dismissed from this meeting for today," the king continued. "We shall reconvene at the guild office. Do not divulge any of this intelligence to the citizens. All they need to know is that an attempt was made on Veriti's life."

The king waited patiently until everyone left the room. After they were gone, he approached the assassin and couldn't help but ruminate on the harm he could have done to his sister of all people. Slamming his fist on the table, Paithos kept the muscles in his arm taut.

"I vow that I shall keep Veriti safe from people like you," he declared in quiet anger.


	3. In Truth, An Injured Bird

The Uncharted Isles

Chapter 2: In Truth, An Injured Bird

Sleep well. Ply well. Sleep well. Ply well.

What was it supposed to mean?

She awoke not many hours thinking about the Guardian's words and her brother's advice. There were so many pieces of pottery shattered in her mind, but they were all unfamiliar to her.

It would all fall together into a fragmented pot, whole in nature, yet with the traces of being broken.

The quiet whisper of the night greeted her face, warm with frustration and uneasiness. Not a cloud in the dark expanse. Somewhere a family slept with tight knots in their stomach. They relied on a storehouse of grain, rationed to some villages in Ei-Jei. The golden grain was spread so thin in those destitute villages that their strength failed and they would collapse from hunger if not first from dehydration.

Her responsibility was her people whose faces she could no longer bring joy. A corrupt ruler. She thought some may think of her, to live comfortably off the royal storehouse and ignore the plight of the Ei-Jei. The earth's dusty throat that could not sustain the crops of farmer without the mercy of Mercury. They probably had to turn to another industry to survive.

As fearful as she was, if this desert curse drained El-Jei of people in a few short years, she realized that there were a few words she needs to say to her brother.

At perhaps an ungodly hour to be awake, she drifted through the hallways with purpose. The Ayuthay guards acknowledged her with a nod and looked at each other, wondering where she was going.

"You are still awake, sister?"

"Remember how I wanted to tell you something about the Guardian?"

"Yes," he replied slowly.

"He didn't want to reveal himself of even his name. Though clearly he was some sort of godlike being," she paused. "A mystery, really. How he could wield such power."

Paithos' puzzled expression caused her to stop wondering out loud.

"What did he look like?"

"I don't know exactly since he wore a hooded cloak. His hair stood out to me. It was most definitely blue."

He was listening closely as if gauging her response for accuracy.

"His powers. Tell me more about them."

"That's the stranger part. I remember seeing a sort of energy or magic rise out him and shortly after water shot the assassin up into the air fairly high. It had the effect of being stabbed by a blade."

But Paithos did not seem nearly as amazed as Veriti.

"Of course, he is human–"

"If you saw him disappear, you would believe me, he may be more like a god."

"It's more than that, Veriti. I'm sure you remember the Golden Sun event. Well, besides deactivating our alchemy well."

"Yes, what about it?"

"It was triggered by humans gifted with a special power to use nature's elements – wind, water, earth, and fire. I think your 'guardian' seems to be gifted with some arcane magic of the Ancients."

"Possibly."

The two sat for a moment, not looking at each other, rather wracking their brains for an explanation.

"I don't know," Paithos admitted.

"Neither do I. Well, not for certain unless... unless I were to meet with him again."

"And what of the assassin?" he probed.

"He wore loose-fitting clothing and seemed to be a mercenary or an assassin," she paused. "Yet I am not sure of who sponsored the mercenary, if it be a nation or a resentful group. We must be wary, I suppose, wherever the truth may lay."

"Your council is wise as ever, sister," he acknowledged as he sat straighter and met her gaze again. "I have already been investigating the mercenary and any potential enemies of Ayuthay. You need not worry about it any longer."

"Thank you, brother," she responded with the traces of a smile. "Especially last night with Sariah."

His laid-back expression grew stern at the mention of her. As much as he valued her advice as a council member and her companionship, he abhorred how critical she was of his sister. Torn between his wife who could bear him no children and his beloved sister, no one was ever particularly happy.

"I have spoken with her though she was fatigued. Don't let her spiteful attitude toward you ever stop you," he reassured her.  
You can be certain that I will reprimand her again. My real concern is that you are safe. Ever effort, every resource shall be expended until I am absolutely sure you are safe from harm."

"Don't you think it might be a distraction from bigger problems?" she interrupted. "The people are suffering as it is from the ongoing drought."

"However," he persisted. "The guards heard you cry out. There is no way you weren't harmed. And I will ensure it will never happen again."

"You don't need to worry too much about me. A guardian of Insight has awoken and chose for me to live."

"That is where you are wrong," his pragmatic reply came. "You have crossed the line behind superstition and reality. Reality, being that is a miracle that the Adept happened to see you and you were saved, but not to be explained by a prophecy."

Weary from the attack, her anger peaked as she turned with her back facing her brother.

"Of course, you would never understand my ability to see an Essence," she spewed. "You are no different from Sariah you take my Insight as folly and doubts my spiritual ability to see the truth."

With that, she stormed out of the room, feeling like an injured bird. Both by being restricted in movement from the guard milling around her and that her brother just fundamentally didn't understand her. She never was free, even without a cage.

She stumbled back into her room and closing the door behind her, led her emotions explode. Betrayed by her brother, who feared the ideas of his wife, she felt alone. Truly, more than ever, she wished for a simple friend. A confidant who lay aside court politics and got the chance just to know her.

Why? Why hadn't the Guardian stayed? Did the Great Tree Spirit really required him to return so quickly? Doubt and loneliness plagued her thoughts. Was she entirely wrong about the Guardian in the first place? But, certainly not. No, human could wield both power over the air and the water. At the same time, possess the gift of healing.

Not long after, she heard a tremendous banging at the door. It was early morning by now, the regular time the royal household awoke.

I look ridiculous, she observed as she ran by her mirror. Inhaling a slightly calmer breath, she wiped her tears on the bottom of her robes.

"My lady," the maid exclaimed, startling her. "You look horrible."

Even comparable to her brother, dear Athena, could read her emotions by the barest trace of an expression. That was good in some ways, but not when Veriti was trying to hide her hurt.

Athena closed the door behind her, separating the noisy guards outside from the serenity of Veriti's room.

"I'm just cleaning you up for now," Athena began. "Now, if I may..."

"Yes," came a solemn reply. "Do what you need to do."

Surprisingly, Princess Veriti found herself enveloped in a crushing embrace. It felt better than her own brother to her held in the arms of a friend.

"Sorry about that, my lady," Athena frowned. "It must have been hard. Last night, with the attack and with Sariah. And I'm sure there's more to it. You don't have to tell me anything if it troubles you too much."

Or I could say everything, Veriti considered. Athena gathered the loose brown waves that fell at her back and brushed it gently back to its silky texture. Sometimes Veriti wished the impossible – that they were sisters – with Athena being the older one. Expertly, she braided Veriti's hair in several places and fixed the braids with pins. Then, she weaved the smaller intricate braids into a single braid to which she tied in a blue tassel, symbolizing the princess' duty to the Alchemy Well.

Should she impose her duties as a ruler upon a servant? The burden was not fitting, she realized. No one outside the court would respond in this way out of kindness, with no ulterior motives.

"There were two men last night," Veriti explained. "One tried to kidnap me and did not escape with his life. The other was a true enigma who saved me from the mercenary who was trying to take me away for ransom or something like that."

"I see."

Veriti's hair was finally arranged in the traditional style. But now, Athena began the annoying process of taking out all the pins.

"What did he look like?"

"Graceful blue hair. And purposeful eyes. There was a mask I think. His skin was much paler than ours. That is all I remember," Veriti told her.

"A wonder indeed," Athena agreed. Then, with a mischievous smile that Veriti perceived in her voice, she added. "Is he planning on coming back to your bedroom?"

"Of course not," Veriti vigorously shook her head, blushing at the implication.

"Stop it or I'll have to redo your braid," Athena scolded her lightly although she was laughing.

"Perhaps he only appears in times of need."

"Do you need him right now?"

Veriti glared at her maid for the teasing.

"Maybe, but only if he can fix the well."

"Fair enough," Athena replied. "If he plans on coming back, let me know so I can dress you up extra pretty."

"I feel like I can't control when he shows up like that," Veriti thought out loud. "Oh, do you know what? After he fought off the mercenary with these water powers, he healed me and disappeared into thin air. It was so shocking."

"So you did get a close view of his face."

"No, I couldn't completely see. I had already put my zol lantern away."

"Oh well. Perhaps next time ask him to uncover more of his face for you," she grinned, noticing Veriti's slight frustration at her behavior. "If that's everything, I should be going, my lady."

"That's all," the princess responded, thinly hiding her annoyance.

"Be well, my lady. That is all I ask of you," Athena said before disappearing out into the hallway of noisy guards.


	4. Trust Thine Third Eye

A/N: Not that this chapter has anything to do with Himi or going on quests to find eyeballs. It's more metaphorical in meaning.

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The Uncharted Isles

Chapter 3: Trust Thine Third Eye

As anticipated, Veriti was still sitting in a room full of Ayuthay citizens complaining about the drought several days later. Their comments were a little gentler, knowing what their she had gone through.

After a particularly harrowing story of a young woman whose whole family had died from the drought, Paithos decided to end the general council early.

"One last question," the woman begged her. "Is it true that the Mercury god who saved you is going to save Ayuthay? I heard the councilwoman, Lady Sariah, made a proclamation."

"Fear not," the princess assured her though even she herself was not sure of it. "I will make sure the well is fixed as soon as possible with the powers of Mercury.

The woman bowed deeply at Veriti's feet and promptly left the room, feeling a great weight off her shoulders. Veriti rushed back to her room with a few guards trailing her.

"I'll be fine from here," she commanded them.

Nodding, they took their positions at the end of the hallway.

Hearing that woman's trust in her gave her a renewed vigor. Maybe Sariah was right even though the timeliness of her words was wrong. She thought back to the various advice she had heard. Ply well. Sleep well. Be well. She felt like she was on the verge of an important realization. Clasping her hands together, she sat on the ledge of the broken window. All the broken glass had been removed. And though it had scared her at first, looking over the city and her desert kingdom beyond gave her a sense of purpose.

Closing her eyes, she searched for the Sand Prince's presence. The room filled with a dim blue light despite the fact that it was a bright sunny day as usual. Though her eyes were closed, she saw everything. Looking down at her hands, she realized she was glowing.

"Thank you, Great Tree Spirit."

Relishing the power for a moment, she decided what to do next. Her eyes snapped open and the bright sun stunned her for a brief moment. Not long after, she wore her travel cloak and was ready to walk through the gardens.

The guards followed behind her closely. Then, she ascended a few flights and made her way to a cluster of trees and vines that somehow still grew.

"I am no longer in need of your assistance."

"King Paithos said..." the guards persisted.

"I know. I know. But could you give me a few hours to quietly meditate?"

They nodded reluctantly and left her in peace. Watching them leave, she reached into her pockets. Once was certain there were gone, she slipped on her Spirit Gloves that she knew Adepts wore. The gloves gave her a small burst of energy and would help absorb her impact if she fell.

Activating her Insight, she pushed back some vines and slid through the small opening. Climbing down a vine, she clenched it tightly so she wouldn't fall. She was half-afraid it wouldn't support her weight since she had not done this she was a child. Praying that she wouldn't fall on a large tree root and sprain her ankle like last time, she released the vine and fell half a story. Following the northern outer wall, she climbed down one more level. Now, she was at ground level.

To her relief, there were two guards protecting the northern gate, not at all looking out of the small stone pavement she had landed on. Typically, a river or waterway would separate the two areas, but currently, there lay a dried up ditch. Opening the door, she was now almost on the level the city lay.

While much of Ei-Jei was suffering, Ayuthay was insulated, having a city secretly underground. They invited a select group of skilled workers to relocate there during the drought to boost the economy.

Wandering through the walkways devoid of the light that was supposed to emanate from the zol lines, she tried to find her way past some houses. With her hood up, she resembled an overdressed traveler passing through Ayuthay. News of the crisis had reaches as far as Passaj. Kaocho, a nation they were never particularly friendly with but nonetheless civil to, must have also heard.

The entrance by the storehouse she had gone through was less guarded. Probably those unnecessary guards had been diverted to outer perimeters and unfortunately all around her room as well.

To walk down the length of this passage and down another flight of stairs took forever. It was practically like walking down the length of the city. Finally, she entered the western stairway into the city. Flowing lines of zol kept the city lit. However, many lanterns were installed because they were just too dim.

Being fairly familiar with the city's layout, she quickly located the symbol for the inn. There seemed to be a big void of energy there. It was unlike the well, which had a lot of unstable energy waiting for the void to bring it to various states of equilibrium. After another party was finished getting rooms, walked closer to the counter, hoping he would not recognize her.

"Hello, miss," his welcoming voice boomed. "Looking for rooms for the night?"

"Ah yes," Veriti replied. "There is a traveler with blue hair and a cloak not much different from mine. He may have checked in a few days prior."

"Hmm..." he considered her request.

The princess really hoped she wasn't making any of this up. She was totally relying on Insight.

"Well, he may not be in his rooms, but you can certainly check. Before you go, I'm assuming you know the man?"

She nodded.

"Good," he responded in a lower voice. "You see, he is a very distant man who likes his privacy. And I don't know, may it's not for me to say, but he may even be a dangerous man."

"If he's your friend," he continued reluctantly. "Go to the far room on the right upstairs."

"Thank you," she called as she raced up the stairs.

Out of excitement, she nearly missed a step, but caught herself. Looking about, she was glad no one had seen.

He may not remember what I look like since it was dark and it may be difficult to explain, she considered. Deactivating her Insight, she knocked briefly and pushed the door open, too impatient to wait for a response.

She hesitated. What if I'm wrong, she thought.

Too late. She was already in someone's room.

"Hello...?"

A shadow at the other side of the suite separated by a wall started to move. It better be the right one, she hoped.

"What do you want?" the looming figure demanded coolly, appearing in front of her.

"I..." she began. "Do you mind if I talk with you about something?"

"Make it fast, my dear," he responded to the point of almost cold politeness. "I don't think I know you."

Veriti was shocked the blue-haired man wasn't friendlier. Maybe it was the wrong person.

"A few days ago, did you perchance meet a man from Kaocho?" she began.

"Possibly," came his guarded reply.

"Black hair. Black everything besides a little knife he carried. But that's a minor detail," she continued as neutrally as possible. "What stood out to me was his impatience and his rudeness. Probably not the company a seasoned traveler like you would have dealings with."

"Anything could happen in Ayuthay," the blue-haired man stated calmly. "I am merely a traveler seeking respite from a long journey. Whether I saw a man clad in black or not is not for me to say."

"Oh I see. Pardon my mistake for asking," she apologized. "And my final question, out of mere curiosity, where are you from?"

Stiffly walking over to her, he offered her his response in a pointed tone. "That is none of your concern. Look, I'm just a lone traveler from a distant place."

"I'm sorry for being pushy," Veriti persisted. "This all stems from a misunderstanding. For all the ways I've offended you, you at least deserve my honesty."

She glanced at him briefly but did not catch the strange expression that returned. The teal-haired man was intrigued by the penetrating depth of Veriti's fathomless brown eyes. So deeply did they incise through bone and flesh that even the most cunning man felt the blade nick his heart. As usual, like the assassin's blade he was, he ignored the impulse.


	5. Enlightenment Beyond Lighthouses

There will be an author's note at the end of the chapter.

* * *

The Uncharted Isles

Chapter 4: Enlightenment Beyond Lighthouses

Time slipped through their hands as fine grains of sand whisked by the wind. The perpetual weightless silk strewn along some of the coasts of Angara was time itself. Neither by the air nor by the water could one control this earthen element.

"You are a complete stranger," Veriti acknowledged. "but somehow I sense that I can trust you with an important task."

She knew Insight did not provide specific details about a person's character, but it did identify how strong one's spirit and strength were. However, she used it and gleaned his spirit was resilient and his strength was a strong Essence, worthy by the standards of the Great Tree Spirit. Such a strong person was definitely trustworthy, she thought. It couldn't just be more coincidence for him to pass through Ayuthay.

"Before I tell you what happened, I must tell you two important things: that all of Ei-Jei is suffering from a severe drought and I am Princess Veriti of Ayuthay."

Without the Jupiter ability of Mind Read, the blue-haired figure was adept at reading people and he despised them generally. In particular, the rulers he had met. How easily offended and broken they were. And without substantial reason nor power, they flew into rage and eventually to battle. And these individuals often led blindly loyal soldiers to war and returned, in victory or in defeat, in financial loss and having advanced nothing besides some land or pride. Would these capricious know people or restore it to the world, he scoffed inwardly, knowing the answer.

"Go on."

It was perhaps one of the most reckless things he had said. And for a man who had traveled to the ends of the world to oppose Isaac, it was surprising his interest did not seem more destructive.

"And please tell me, what is your name that I grant you great merit before the king?"

"You may call me Aegersus," he responded. "Though I seek only knowledge, not merit."

Wandering deeper into the stranger's room, she proceeded to take off her cloak and sit down upon it before she continued.

Beneath her traveling cloak, he noticed her traditional garb, consisting of fabric with patterns of orange and golden geometric shapes cast over a blue dress. She was narrow, he observed, as a bird. He wondered if she had the survival instincts of one though. Could she search patiently for a berry, yet escape from an arrow just in time? There was a very slim chance she had the powers of an Adept to protect herself from unknown danger.

"...and that's why you must save the Alchemy Well," she implored him. "Because Ei-Jei is the world's only hope if Arcane magic gets out of control and destroys civilizations."

The man feigned an attentive ear, thinking her request was starting to sound like one of those doomsayers. What was wrong with the Arcane magic, he thought, being very pleased with his increase in power from the lighting of Mercury lighthouse. Well, very pleased unless there was a way to increase it exponentially and live an endless amount of time to enjoy it. Not that those seemed like achievable goals at the moment.

"Do you know that besides the lighthouses, Ei-Jei is said to receive the most sunlight in all of Weyard? Since the Golden Sun, many of our people have not aged a day and strangely it deactivated our Alchemy Machine," she explained.

As she spoke passionately about the importance of the Alchemy Machines, he noticed her eyes seemed to emanate bits of an unfamiliar psynergy that he could not name. While not being a Mind Read or a Reveal, he was sure this stately lady could be an Adept. And her words brought him hope. Maybe if those machines are as she claims, I will live to enjoy the fruits of my ambition this time, he thought. Coming from the mouth of a lovely princess the offer seemed twice as sweet. Fearless, he thought her, talking down a stranger whose powers she could not even begin to comprehend.

"They think me a fool..." she paused, after a long time, deciding to glance at him. "But I hope you don't."

"It is all a matter of perspective. What did you do?"

"Well, Aegersus," she explained. "I ordered buckets of water to be poured in bowls and in fountain. Nothing I suggested seemed to work. Then, they discreetly got mad at me for wasting precious imported water on my folly."

"Those are just words, my dear. I'm sure the same people tell you grand philosophies like ' _True wisdom is less presuming than folly_ ' "

He saw concern cross her face as she peered outside, looking in the distance. My dear, she tried to decipher in her mind. Is he trying to comfort me or insult me?

"Then, you'll help me?"

"I think you are wise enough to solve your own problem. _After all, a man is not great; a man is great because failure hasn't stopped him_."

"But I don't have the power to fix the well on my own," she begged him, feeling powerless as he continued to coldly regard her. Was that a hint of a smirk? Maybe this really wasn't the same person. The gods, they were truly laughing in her face. "Believe me, I know how to fix it."

"I think they're calling for you," he reminded her, indicating the guards running through the streets.

Her delicate brows were twisted in frustration. She looked conflicted, vulnerable in a way. Does she want to yell at me and threaten me with her nonexistent powers to fix her well, the blue-haired man mused. She certainly looks like it. He thought back to Isaac's pesky little party. Though infinitely weaker than him, they always rudely complained about him to him, but they served their purpose well, bending to his will like grass in the wind.

"Let me tell you this, Aegersus. If you're truly blessed with the power of Mercury, why would you not use it?"

Seeing the large crowd of guards appear in front of the inn, Veriti quickly ran out of his room, leaving the blue-haired man to his thoughts. What good is Insight if it is not in the hands of an Adept, he pondered. Veriti, my dear princess, you are very wise.

As Veriti was soon discovered by the guards and brought back to the throne room, she was hoping for her brother to understand her. The first thing she noticed was that the servant girls had acquired new palm leaves for fanning the king. Probably because Paithos and I have been arguing so much lately, she thought.

"Veriti, I told you to stay put for the time being," he scolded her.

"I would have definitely listened to you if there wasn't a solution to the dought sitting right at our doorstep. And he happened to be conveniently passing through the inn."

Proud of herself, she added, "I'm surprised you had not thought to do that."

"How dare you flaunt what you did in front of me?" he stared at her with quiet anger in his eyes. Veriti recoiled. It was frightening for someone usually so lax to flare up like that.

"First, you lied to guards that I assigned to you," he said, accusing her. "No, that is not even the beginning. Before that, you didn't trust me enough to request some guards to take with you."

"Paithos, I don't know what you're saying. I definitely trust you to accomplish your goal of identifying my attacker and bringing whoever was responsible to justice, but I need you to give me enough space for me to fulfill my duty as well."

"Veriti, do you really think I can just forgive you like that and move on?" he asked with a sharp tone. "You think you're doing a great job fixing the well and maybe you are. Still, whatever you're doing, it happens to be getting in my way."

Realizing how angry he was coming across to Veriti, he spoke in a gentler voice, yet with the same resolve.

"I know how dedicated you are to the well, but do you really think the security of Ayuthay is not even more important?"

Or the safety of you, she interpreted. He was rarely an overprotective brother, but right now Veriti thought him to be unbearable. A bitter thought crossed her mind. What good is security if the people are all skeletons – skin and bones in the desert?

"Paithos, do you really not see the big picture? There are larger forces at work. And even though you are five years older than me, surely you know better than I what is happening."

"Of course I understand you," he responded sharply. Even the servant girls looked weary from fanning the king at maximum intensity. "That's why you will be under strict supervision and no more of those secret meditation escapades. You will always have a guard or a servant by your side. I'm sure you would do much better in their company anyway."

Despite her protests, the guards escorted her back out of the throne room. Akhenaton's words echoed painfully through her head. _Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time, we fall._ Instead, the princess looked down in defeat and graciously allowed herself to be led out of her own volition. When she finally looked up, a icy sensation ran down her spine as she caught the gaze of Lady Sariah.

"Good afternoon, Veriti," the councilwoman greeted. "I was just on my way to see Paithos."

It always made her uncomfortable to hear Paithos' wife use her name bereft of her noble status as if they were close sisters. We're not even friends and yet she still calls me that, the princess thought.

"Hello, Lady Sariah. Haven't seen you in a while."

"Well then, maybe we could talk if you have the time," she smiled.

"Perhaps," Veriti responded. But I hope not, she mentally added as she returned to her chambers in a foul and rather hopeless mood.

Upon entering her chambers, she walked by Athena and realized the broken window had been replaced and Veriti was out of ideas. Her servant watched her patiently, waiting for her to explain.

"My lady, excuse me if I presume too much, but you look like you're about to explode, not in anger but in a problem perplexing beyond your control."

"No worries, Athena, you read me well."

"Then what is wrong?"

"I don't mind being denied once, but today I suffered being repeatedly denied for something I sought by my Insight," Veriti explained. "It does not make sense. I always thought my ability served me for good if I sought it with a pure heart."

"You are not wrong, my lady," Athena advised her. "You can pursue all the right things with good intentions, but your Insight will always have limitations. And that's why you need to understand the way other people think – it's not as straightforward as yours, but jagged like the Passaj Mountain Climb."

"Then, how am I to continue if Paithos is keeping me in the palace until he is no longer mad at me?" she asked, feeling strangely like a young child starting over though she was well into her twenties.

"I don't know why the guards found you missing or why Paithos placed even stricter restrictions on you," Athena answered. "but I do know this about you: you have the charms of a woman, yet instead you choose to use your intellect as your weapon of choice and I know you can be charismatic when you want to be. Furthermore, it is always good for a ruler to possess good intentions. It may not always serve you well, but it will serve your people well."

"No, I don't know the details, my lady, but I can assure you of this: when you are determined, nothing stands in your way. And I don't mean that as false hope. I'm saying this because this is what I have observed."

"Thank you, Athena," Veriti responded as if her servant had given her a hug. "In some ways, it seems as if you would make a better ruler than me."

"Trust me," Athena laughed. "I'm much better off supporting you as a servant, as a friend. It's sad to hear you tell me the council does not always support you."

Athena is certainly asking a heavy request of me, Veriti smiled to herself grimly – to believe that the Mercury Guardian Aegersus – no, perhaps he is merely an Adept as Paithos claims – would answer my call.

* * *

A/N: Italicized phrases are quote from Akhenaton, a 14th century Egyptian pharaoh who fathered his nephew Tutankhaten (King Tut). I thought Ayuthay's culture would be based off of Ancient Greece/Rome/Egypt since Paithos sounds like pathos, which is Greek for emotion. An old meaning for it means suffering and clearly Paithos is suffering a lot as he sees his people dying from the drought.

Athena - a loyal servant of Veriti, based off the Greek goddess of wisdom with the same name

Aegersus - Oh dear, who could that possibly be? Derived from ἔγερσις (sounds like egersis which I pronounce something like "Edge-ear-sis"), which means to rise up or to awaken as a verb in Greek and as a noun it means resurrection or awakening. I modified it a bit because well, not to give away too much, but it must start with an "A." Think of this mysterious character as someone who woke up from a pretty bad past or conversely, someone who plans to rise up and either acquire more status or power or to seek revenge against a past enemy.

See for more info about the name from Strong's concordance from BibleHub in entry 1454. egersis


	6. Incite Her Insight

A/N: If you haven't noticed, I am a big fan of punny chapter titles. More on Sariah's character at the end of the chapter.

* * *

The Uncharted Isles

Chapter 5: Incite Her Insight

Several weeks had expired and the blue-haired enigma had likely left. With each passing day, she despaired. Paithos was currently on a trend of ignoring her advice or acknowledging it under false pretenses. Sariah must truly be at work now, dominating her husband the king's office. As she grew louder, Veriti's silence became even more stony.

Ayuthay had lost its opportunity.

And now on the outer reaches of Ei-Jei, they were relying on barren land and the fat purses of travelers just to survive. Ei-Jei was the antithesis of a resort without its crystal rivers – so pristine, so fresh, like that of a magical wellspring. Some foreigners regarded it as the Fountain of Youth sought by rulers throughout Angara, maybe even Weyard. The land, at least until the past two years, enjoyed the blessings of Venus, the goddess of earth, since it was a fertile and the coastal climate was warm.

Currently, Ayuthay and all of Ei-Jei was at the mercy of the gods. Venus wanted the land to remain in abundance and prosper from her goodwill, yet Mercury cared little for the people of Ayuthay and turned his face away in disconcern. And the two were in discord. Additionally to make matters worse, Mars was added to the mix since the Council seemed very preoccupied with something that they had yet to reveal to her.

Day in and day out, Veriti watched them battle. If someone with the Essence of Mercury passed through and had the compassion of Venus, then Ayuthay might be saved.

As much as she didn't want the citizens of Ei-Jei to think her apathetic to the Drought after Lady Sariah's infamous proclamation about her, there was nothing she could do but wait.

"Veriti, don't give up hope," Athena had told her.

She clung to hope, but it evaded her because she had reason to regret: out of foolishness the Bearer of Wisdom missed and perhaps lost her chance to save Ayuthay. And for that, she felt accountable three times over.

No, Athena did not understand. And it was above her duty to. Still, her heartfelt compassion prevailed over her duty for which Veriti was very grateful.

"The king requires your presence," a guard informed her.

Trailing behind him, she followed the guard until the chancellor stepped in front of her with the Ancient Key. He turned it in the lock somewhere hidden and the vines opened the way to the king.

"I hope you will be in better spirits," the chancellor remarked kindly, having noticed her downcast expression as she left her summons recently.

"Thank you," Veriti replied with a slight smile. "I will try."

The foliage relinquished the door, sliding back in place behind after Veriti entered the throne room.

"My sister, Princess Veriti," King Paithos began and lazily outstretched his hand.

Someone walked past her, bowed lightly before the king, and briefly glanced at the princess before returning his gaze to the king.

"I'm sorry, sister," the king added. "He would not offer me his name."

Veriti came closer to the king to observe the stranger and what she saw, she could scarcely keep from beaming. The same white mask. The same dark and deadly serious eyes. Oh, his eyes are actually aquamarine, she thought. I did not notice since they were always shrouded. And the same glorious teal mane.

"It is the one," she smiled. "He may not give you his name, but if he offers his Essence, his power, then it matters not."

She was genuinely surprised Paithos did not share her joy to the same degree. However, he did seem pleased to see her brighter demeanor.

"I am at your service," the Adept spoke for the first time. "My only condition is that I am kept secret and none of my actions are made known to the general public of Ayuthay."

"Agreed," the king nodded as did Veriti much more enthusiastically.

"You may begin your research in the library," the king ordered. "And my sister Veriti, in all of her eagerness, may accompany you."

"Really?" Veriti perked up. "Without supervision?"

"I always leave a few outside if your need anything," Paithos responded. "but you will be safe in the company of this powerful Adept unless Sariah tells me otherwise."

At this, Veriti laughed and led the Adept out with urgency. That was the closest thing she would ever get as an apology from him.

"I'm surprised, no – extremely gratified – that you looked for me. For a while, no one believed me that you even existed until you came."

"I think I am equally surprised that you have so many restrictions."

"My brother," she clarified. "is usually pretty lax with me, but ever since the attack, I've basically been quarantined."

"Also, my apologies to you for taking so long, princess," he responded. "I had to arrange to change my travel plans."

Oh, so I'm princess now, not my dear, she thought, wondering what had changed. Well, I'll not dwell on it.

"Actually, I would prefer you to call me Veriti. Don't feel like you need to use my title."

"As you wish."

"And can I call you Aegis? Aegersus is a mouthful."

"So you would like me to be your shield?" he replied. For a moment, he blinked.

"Well, you kind of already were."

"True," he responded. That was pretty close phonetically to his real name. After all, it would not work as planned if she found out. From what I have observed, she seems harmless enough though, he considered. "You can call me by either."

"I'm surprised you know our language so well. Just how long have you been here?"

"Well, I had only been in Ayuthay a few days when I caught the assassin red-handed."

"And you've been here before?"

"No."

"You must be quite the scholar," she commented.

"The door, please," Veriti commanded the chancellor. "Thank you."

"The same could be done with psynergy."

"What's that?" she asked.

"The same thing you call Essence."

"How were you able to tell I could use it?" she probed as she settled on the sofa besides him with a history book on Angara in her hand.

"Don't get too excited, princess. I'm not certain of it yet."

Aegersus didn't work with people, he employed them or rather used them for his purposes. And yet here he was, staring at a princess, whose pleasant brown eyes, once alit with interest, made him intrigued. They were so deep and thoughtful and somehow the Adept wanted to establish this connection between this and her psynergy. Besides that, they seemed utterly trusting of everything he did unlike the people he had used lately. He could let his guard down for a while.

"So what do you know about the purpose of the Alchemy Well?" he asked. It was almost uncomfortable, sitting so close to the princess and being entirely at her service with no ulterior motives. She pulled out a book, which she already seemed well-versed in, and began showing him a map of the original Weyard. Maybe I was speaking in jumbled incoherent jargon when I explained it to him the first time because I was anxious, she thought.

"It was built by the Neox, our early Exalthi ancestors, to generate large amounts of water through our irrigation system," she explained.

"Was it a gift of the Jenei to the Exalthi who could not use Psynergy?" he asked.

"In a sense," she responded. "The Exalthi were quite close to the Jenei. They were master craftsmen who used concepts of psynergy from the Jenei to create these magnificent Alchemy Machines."

Aegersus's eyes lit up at the mention of the Alchemy Machines. Not realizing the connection he had made, Veriti was just glad to have so attentive a student in her company.

"Their skills differed slightly. Those who founded Passaj were blacksmiths and Ayuthay had masons. Both, however, were good with forging zol."

He nodded but was only half-listening as he was engrained in a section about the Alchemy Dynamo. Aegersus smirked, imagining all the power it could grant him. This princess was certainly helpful for the time being.

"However," Veriti admitted. "I don't really know which Alchemy Machines exist beyond Ei-Jei."

"It appears there are two others..." he started.

Since he didn't bother to elaborate, she leaned closer to take a look. It was then that he noticed a very faint perfume that smelled like teak wood and tea leaves and spices that he could not name.

When she gasped, he turned to look at her.

"That's horrible," she exclaimed, clasping her hands together. "What will become of the world if that happens?"

She pointed to a dark aura that spread like poison all over Angara. Then, reaching over his arm, she flipped the page. Unnoticed by her, Aegersus leaned closer so that his nose nearly touched her skin and began to try to link the rich scents to the foods he had seen in their markets. Perhaps it is not merely the perfume that smelled delicious, but the person wearing it, he thought. There was no skin for him to admire since she wore cleanly cut linens with various dyed cloths overlaying her dress that hardly outlined her body. Regardless, her sweet rounded face and determined eyes guaranteed the rest of her was a simple, but sure beauty.

"It looks as if the dark aura is the embodiment of dark monsters to come," he commented. "And with the Grave Eclipse, the aura will slaughter anyone in the shadow of the eclipse."

"Cataclysmic!" she said quietly with a hint of fear. "...and 'unleashes thousands of vicious monsters.' "

He could tell she was visibly frightened though she tried to hide it. Veriti turned the page to see an enlarged world map of Weyard. Both her hands gripped the book just a few inches from her own.

" 'These are the regions that the Grave Eclipse will likely impact based on the calculations of the Exalthi.' " she read the caption aloud.

"Angara's right here," he stated, pointed to a region of the map. He wished he could assuage her fears, yet at the same time, it fascinated him. Alex planned to visit Belinsk again after catching up with those bothersome Tuaparang. With one free hand, she located the approximate location of Ayuthay with her finger.

She drew a sharp breath. Her finger pressed against the book and traced the map to Passaj.

"Ayuthay will be ruined," she shuddered. "And Passaj and Harapa. Look, how much of Ayuthay will be wiped out!"

Prying her hand off the map, he turned the page.

"Veriti, calm down," he looked up at her eyes and gently touched her arm. "You didn't read the caption closely enough. The Exalthi specifically built the well to protect Ei-Jei from the Grave Eclipse. Soon, the world will be just Ei-Jei."

"But that's not okay!" she exclaimed. "All the other people deserve to live as well."

Wrapping his arm around her shoulder, he pulled her close to comfort her.

"With the Apollo Lens, peace can be restored to the world," he assured her. "You needn't fear, my dear."

"What do you mean? I have plenty to fear," she interjected, standing up abruptly and unintentionally pushing him away. "I know that if activated, our well will protect us from the effects of the Golden Sun and any Alchemy that is revived, but I have never studied the Grave Eclipse in great detail."

"If it is much more powerful than the Golden Sun as I suspect, then Ei-Jei will indeed be all that's left of the world," she theorized. "Doesn't that bother you? I'm sure there is someone else in this world you care for, maybe from where you're from, that could be erased from this world."

That's true, he mentally agreed, but probably she will be fine. Though he was a rather cunning Adept, he never intended to directly harm Mia, his cousin who was more like an annoying younger sister. He knew that he only cared a little for this one person and she could still survive using her psynergy.

"Before you get even more worked up, I suggest you show me the well. That's what I came to fix," he stated as he rose to exit the room.

"That's true...if that's the case," she paused as if unsure of something. Her eyes became just as intense as Aegersus'. There was a delightful flame that danced behind her deep brown eyes as her next words were full of ambition. "If that is the case, I know what should be done."

"Since you will be Ayuthay's hero for fixing the well and may possibly be a god or have the status of one, you must promise me something," she began.

"And that is?" he asked her curiously. How quickly she put confidence in his abilities astounded him. She hadn't even seen the most powerful psynergies he could wield. Also, he thought it grand for her to think him a god and decided to do nothing to correct her since it was too purely hilarious.

"I would like you to stop anyone from activating whatever evil Alchemy Machine lies in Belinsk," she requested. "And if worse comes to worse, promise me you will bring light back to the world with the Apollo Lens."

Her whole body was taut as she anticipated his response. After all, he had been reluctant to help her at the inn and she had already asked so much of him. He paused, knowing full well what the High Empyror wanted him to do. He couldn't keep the first part of the promise for certain, but the latter he had not considered.

"I will do my best to protect Ayuthay," he promised her, patting her stiff shoulder.

"Thank you," she replied softly.

She gradually relaxed in the presence of the Adept who seemed sensitive to her in spite of her embarrassing emotional outburst and her forceful demand.

"We should tell the king what we learned," she stated.

"I can't reanimate the well without seeing it for myself," he said as they walked to the throne room.

"Tomorrow," she responded. "We'll go there tomorrow."

Veriti left him, very pleased at what they had found.

Neglecting her normally dignified behavior, she ran down the zol-lined floor adjacent to the throne room.

"Paithos," she called excitedly. "We can fix the well. I am sure of it."

She was startled to find her brother with his back to the throne room entrance and Lady Sariah sitting comfortably on the throne. They seemed to be in deep conversation based on their low voices.

Lady Sariah put on a sympathetic smile when she saw Veriti and King Paithos turned around to face her.

"Is that so?" he asked. "Sariah and I were talking about our mysterious new arrival."

Veriti met her brother's gaze with full attention.

"Based on what you've told me about his 'divine' powers, we think it's best to leave him in the Zol Undergrowth for the time being," he stated.

Curling her hand into a fist, which she hid in her silvery blue robes, she responded, "You would treat someone who may have the power to save your kingdom as a political prisoner?"

"Veriti," Paithos began, walking closer to his sister. "Although I am very glad someone with his description saved you from harm that night, there is no telling what harm he could do to harm one of our citizens. He hasn't even told me his name or his origins."

"The truth is, Veriti," Sariah expanded on her husband's words that she likely persuaded him to say. "that he is a dangerous man. In fact, I recommend that you would consider him more of a tool than a friend or hero."

With a carefully tempered tongue, she replied, "Thank you for your advice, Lady Sariah. I shall keep your words in mind."

"Good," Lady Sariah smiled with a worried expression. "After all, as part of the royal family, your safety is my biggest concern. Additionally, I have been leading the Council to create a safety net to plan if the Adept cannot fix the well and a way to keep him accountable if he commits a crime against you."

"However," Veriti said sharply. "I request that you treat the timely arrival not a royal guest as I would like and not as a dangerous guest as Lady Sariah would like, but rather as a typical traveler passing through Ayuthay. Treat him according to how he will serve Ayuthay."

"Princess Veriti, my dear sister, I understand that you and I have our differences, but Paithos could not bear to have you die for such silly reasons," Sariah replied.

"Furthermore, the line of Ayuthay cannot continue!" Sariah declared with quiet conviction.

Veriti didn't quite agree. Ayuthay could continue the line of kings if Paithos somehow nullified his marriage to Sariah and found a different noblewoman who could bear him children. Sariah, on the other hand, wanted Veriti to essentially bear children for her. In doing so, Veriti would have to renounce her way of life.

"Paithos, just listen to me this one time," Veriti implored him.

"No," Sariah interjected. "It isn't right."

The servants fanned King Paithos more quickly, sensing the king's discomfort over their seemingly petty quarrel.

"Enough," the king commanded.

The two noblewomen, sisters-in-name-only, quit their squabbling momentarily and gave their king their attention.

"Both of you have sound arguments and appear to be vehement in your convictions." He acknowledged. "Therefore, I will not listen to either of your demands."

It was a terrible trait to have. To leave people shocked and confused by portraying oneself to be rigid and immovable yet concealing one's discretion. Both Veriti and Sariah's expressions reflected that.

"The Adept will be placed in a highly secure military facility, yet he will look upon the faces of our gods," King Paithos announced loudly as if agreeing with the brilliance of his ideas.

Lady Sariah's jaw dropped. Even Veriti who had a typically stoic expression in court flinched.

"Where exactly will he be held?" Lady Sariah demanded.

"The Ayuthay outposts. I will inform the captain of the guards to escort him there after you leave," he replied, resuming his bored-with-luxury expression as he settled back on the throne glad that this conflict could be resolved this smoothly.

Nodding respectfully, Veriti left the room. Relieved that the king was in a better mood, the servant girls slowed the fanning motions of the palm leaves. They really only cared about their king, not the people that came in and left the throne room.

Despite feeling a little exhausted, the princess headed to Barai Temple to pray. So many things were happening. An intriguing discussion with Aegersus, an unexpected confession from Sariah, and an unusually kingly behavior of Paithos. Besides, she secretly wanted to follow Aegersus to the comfortable military outpost at the city gates.

* * *

A/N: Sariah - I kinda just chose it because it rhymes with pariah and though she is not an outcast in Ayuthay, Veriti sees her as someone to be avoided. I guess you could additionally see this name as similar to Sarah/Sarai, a biblical Hebrew figure who doubted her husband's claim that God would cure her of barrenness and allow her to miraculously bear a son at a very old age. It's similar because she doubts Veriti's powers and kinda wants to use Veriti in the same way that Sarah uses Hagar - to bear her a son.


	7. Alchemy Alit Desire

The Uncharted Isles

Chapter 6: Alchemy Alit Desire

In the midst of the Ayuthay outpost, which Aegersus found to be very commodious, he was surprised hat he completely let his guard down in the presence of the Ayuthay soldiers. They have escorted him, essentially as a prisoner, to the Ayuthay outpost. Somehow, the captain of the guard treated him with great respect on behalf of Princess Veriti. If only they realized that their hero was the world's recent villain.

She was brilliant, Aegersus thought, examining the red brick floor with was he assumed to be adjacent to a great waterway – the wonder of the Exalthi. No, that was how Veriti put it. He didn't care about the Exalthi; it was the powerful Psynergy that could course through this Alchemy Well that he cared about. Even though he had not completely recovered from his Golden Sun injuries while in Ayuthay as he had planned, he was looking forward to watching his temporarily diminished power go a long way.

His eyes dropped to the lower platform by which water probably was meant to flow over. Was he getting soft and reflective after nearly being killed by that unreasonable Wise One? Maybe.

Oh, the Wise One, he fumed in a brief flash of anger. He hated those stories he was forced to read growing up about a wise figure punishing someone by taking away their abilities instead of their life to teach them a lesson because now he was the main character. The Wise One probably threw me off the mountain into my own psynergy vortex and left me crippled to teach me a lesson, he thought. Too bad, Wise One, my healing powers increased threefold, my injuries are completely gone, and very soon I will have Insight in my hands.

After all, getting back to being soft, he was collaborating with the Tuaparang to unleash a great power over the world.

However, since Isaac's annoying crew was no longer romping around Weyard, his assignment was pretty easy for now – to keep tabs on Kaocho with Darts and Hearts, which he had named them mentally since they were rather useless cards in his deck. All Hearts had to do was to tempt King Wo with power over a prosperous Ayuthay. Aegersus, or Arcaneus as he was aptly called, could see she was just getting started. He did not see why a princess of such beauty should have to suffer all that for a greedy king who was probably planning to go to war regardless of whether the assassin captured for ransom or not.

In the meantime, Aegersus hated being weakened as he was still recovering, yet at the same time, enjoyed being revered as if his questionable actions were seen to be good.

That darn princess. He saw her running over a makeshift bridge that led to the Barai Temple. Her white priestly traveling cloak flapped elegantly through the wind like a bird, an effluent spirit, free and unburdened. That darn princess actually made him want to collaborate, not manipulate or intimidate as he usually did with partners.

Maybe I should just fix the well and leave her behind, he thought.

Settling in an overstuffed plush chair, he felt like that lazy King Paithos being fanned by servants all day. He felt bored with life. It felt too easy, too predictable.

Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to wait for her.

Very early the next day, Aegersus arrived at the entrance of the Alchemy Well. Princess Veriti was already there, eagerly awaiting his arrival.

After the princess unlocked the door, he followed her in, filled with awe when he saw the interior of the Alchemy Well. Intricate zol lines covered every column and spread through thick channels in the floor. In the center, they met in a web of fine zol lines surrounding an empty bowl. Behind it lay an imprint of a mask. And this was all done with zol blocks and fine skilled craftsmanship.

"All you need to do is fill this bowl with water and push the zol blocks in place," Veriti instructed him.

Activating his Psynergy, he filled the bowl of water and adjusted the blocks of zol, but each time he tried, the well somehow reset back to its original position. Slightly, frustrated, he turned around to see Veriti's puzzled expression.

"Hmm, I was so sure of it," she thought aloud, noticing his perplexed expression. "Don't worry. I will figure this out."

Her dark brown eyes trailed the thick zol lines on the floor. Walking over, she followed them to the bowl affixed at the center. Lost in her thoughts, she pushed Aegersus aside and examined the mask imprint with her hand. Aegersus was amused by how easily she shoved him aside when she had a goal in mind. For one thing, he was usually the one that had to resort to this when he was working with useless pawns who were driven by emotions rather than common sense.

"Something belongs here," she stated, turning to face him. "but it is probably hidden in some ancient ruins. So that means either Harapa, Barai Temple, or if there are any other places in Ei-Jei or Kaocho."

"I saw you walking there yesterday," he said. "More investigating, I suppose?"

"No," she replied. "I pray there everyday unless my brother deems it unsafe."

"The Barai Temple is a good place to start since it's closer than the other places you mentioned," he added. "I will go alone since traveling in too deep may be dangerous for you."

Wordlessly, he headed off to the temple. The princess waited a while until she could see him in the distance and proceeded to follow him.

Veriti crossed the makeshift bridge that stretched across the nonexistent Barai Pond. The sun was directly overhead, indicating that it was already midday in Ayuthay. She saw Aegersus disappear into the temple alone.

Not wanting to be left back, she ran over the rest of the wooden planks until she was in the shade of the remarkably well-preserved blue temple.

As always, it was cool and dark inside the temple. She briefly waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness with only the dim blue zol lines as a light source.

Realizing that Aegersus was not in the main room, she headed further in. Most of the zol blocks in this room were unlit, much to Veriti's displeasure. After all, there were creatures here that she encountered from time to time.

Using her Insight, she closed her eyes and heightened her senses in hopes of finding out what to do. She was surprised how powerful Arcaneus' presence was. He was very easy to locate.

Rushing around a statue, she almost ran into a crowd of monsters that Aegersus was fighting.

Laughing to herself, she reached into her pocket and withdrew a Bramble Seed. Even after the vines of the Nettle psynergy struck the creatures, it didn't seem like enough to finish them off so she rushed forth to whack them with her Angelic Ankh.

One of hydra squirted out a multicolored saliva all over Veriti and Aegersus.

"Disgusting," Veriti responded, unsuccessfully trying to sling some of the slime back at the monster.

Although Veriti's speed was greatly decreased, with the naturally high speed of a Mercury Adept Aegersus was still able to rush forward and skewer them with a few slashes of his Verdant Sword. He glanced at her as she approached him with a victorious expression. It was kinda cute that she thought she was helping him.

"You sure attract a lot of hydra," she exclaimed. "Do you want to know why?"

"I didn't know you could fight."

"Didn't know or didn't think I could fight?" she replied with a laugh. "I have to survive somehow when I pray here every day, don't you think? And you didn't answer my question, but I will tell you anyway. You have a really strong – overpowering I might add – Essence. It draws many monsters to you."

"I see," he replied. "Let's keep moving."

"Of course," she said. "but aren't you at least a little interested in how monsters view you?"

"Maybe."

"Hmph, you really are no fun," she frowned slightly. He didn't glance to look, but he could hear the disappointment in her voice.

She rushed ahead of him and stood still, eyes focused on a raised platform. Her hand wandered into her pocket for another Bramble Seed.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," he advised with a hand on her wrist.

"What?" she asked, though ignoring him and throwing it at the blue Djinni anyway.

Squealing in fright, the Djinni jumped out of the way and ran to the ground platform to get out the way.

As the pair approached the Djinni, he ran through the door and appeared on the platform above.

"Darn. I missed him again," Veriti said.

"You're getting distracted," he noted.

"I don't know about that," she replied. "Maybe he can help us find the object since he's been here so long. I see him all the time and he evades me every time like this is some sort of game."

While she rushed towards the small door the blue Djinni exited, he grabbed her around the waist.

"I guarantee you that I can find it faster."

"Oh, is that a challenge?"

"Those Djinn," he stated. "They're useless without power."

"And power without wisdom is meaningless," she clarified.

"Profound words for someone who has not experienced power," he tightened his grip around her as she struggled.

"Well, you are certainly in need of wisdom," she quipped. "And humility, I might add. Now kindly, let go of me so I can find what I'm looking for."

"I doubt you can get very far without my Psynergy."

"So be it. Let us test power and wisdom and see how far we get. You seem like you are used to working on your own anyway."

"Very well, my dear," he replied. "I will not fail you."

He watched as she ran off through the side passageway. Meanwhile, he continued along the straight main path. It led to an expansive balcony, but mainly he gazed a hundred meters below to see five adjacent arches that divided the entire room into five parts lengthwise. Stopping in front of a bowl in the middle of the room, he smirked to himself. He didn't need Veriti to tell him what to do with a temple so simple in design.

Using Douse, a puffy rain cloud appeared in front of the bowl and filled it as it drifted over the bowl and faded into the air.

Peering downward at the floor below, he spotted a red Djinni followed by a brown Djinni run down the stairs. Perhaps my eyes are deceiving me, he thought. There was only one Djinni before and it was blue. Walking to the other end of the balcony to get a better view of the stairs, he saw Veriti emerge from the stairway stumbling backwards to stop at the landing.

"I know, Waterdrop, you love me," she cooed as a mother talking to a child. "Now, please help me find the mask."

Squealing from being squeezed too hard, the Djinn jumped out of her arms and yelled at her.

"My name is not Waterdrop, it's Surge!" he glared. "And there's no mask here just a grouchy face."

"Ok Surge," she replied. "That's a cute name."

"Wait no, I told you my name before testing if you were worthy. Now you can summon me...aaaah... help... Mercury is going to furious at me."

"Huh?" she questioned him. "What are you babbling about? I can only recognize the word 'summon' and 'Mercury.' "

"Aaahhh!" the blue Djinni burst into tears or raindrops. "That's already too much!"

Running off before she could get in another word or pat his head, she heard the blue Djinni cry, "I am so dumb. Dumb! DUMB!"

Glancing upward, she spotted Aegersus watching her from the balcony of the floor above.

"Aegis," she called. It echoed off the walls of the empty aqueduct. "Thanks for helping me out. There was really tough spot where there were zol blocks really low below the platform and I couldn't jump safely to them without your rain. And then the blue bear's friends came to play and tried all attacking me at once, but fortunately I borrowed this from you..."

"Sorry, princess, can't hear you from here," he shouted back, walking to the staircase that led downward on his floor. He could hear her fine but was too frustrated to hear how she got ahead of him. It was supposed to be the other way around. She certainly had a lot of Vitality, but there was no way, his Speed was much higher. For a second, he hesitated, thinking perhaps to teleport to the entrance and follow Veriti. No, there must be a reason for this path, he decided, continuing along.

Finally, Alex was several flights down and Veriti was still one step ahead of him. He was thoroughly pissed. He thought her to be innocent and naive and sheltered. Instead, she had a lot of Vitality for someone with such low-level psynergy and too much intelligence for someone who–

He heard another squeal, but it wasn't a Djinni, it sounded like Veriti. Perhaps I should just leave her to teach her a lesson, he frowned. No, not possible. Paithos probably wants his sister back and alive. Oh, and the plan with Darts and Hearts would not work if he didn't collaborate with them for the time being.

Traveling through yet another doorway, he realized that he was standing on the arches of an aqueduct. Water rushed past his knees quickly to form three waterfalls. This does not seem like a safe situation for Veriti, he thought.

Leaving the archway, he saw Veriti appear with one Djinni in her arms and two trailing behind. The red one ran past Aegersus to reach the doorway he had entered. Apparently, the brown one was chasing him. The red Djinni jumped onto his shoulder for protection and violently shook the water off of him. It just took one glare for the Djinni to jump right off and run away to some place dry and hidden from the brown Djinni on the ledge above.

"Which one should I choose, Aegis?" she asked, grasping a very unhappy blue Djinni.

"For what?"

"Jumping down," she responded.

"I wouldn't suggest it for you. Make the Djinni do it. Meanwhile, I will find the right path."

"Right path?" she laughed. "I have been leading you all along. Anyway, I guess it's up to chance. See ya!"

"Veriti, what are you doing?"

He heard her scream as the water pushed her off the aqueduct. As he rushed over to the adjacent arch to save her, he hesitated, recalling how the Wise One rudely pushed him to his "death." It looked like quite a fall from the top of the aqueduct to the bottom.

The brown Djinni peered behind him to spot the red Djinni hiding on the ledge. Making some intimidating babbling noises to the other Djinni, the red one leapt off the ledge onto Aegersus' shoulder. It made him slightly wobbly as he approached the edge. Then, the brown Djinni took the bait and leapt after him, forcing all three to fall head first off the ledge of the aqueduct. He cast some psynergy to levitate, but it appeared he was falling too fast.

* * *

A/N: Oh no, Aegersus' identity ...exposed. When I first wrote this, I realized I had been writing Djinn as singular and Djinni as plural. Fortunately, I got that mostly fixed.

So new mini characters.

All the Djinn in Ei-Jei are fair game as well as Kaocho. Anyone miss Kaocho out there? I remember when I was playing it a few years ago, it made me pretty hungry seeing all the good food lying around or available in shops. I was pretty sad when I got back after the Grave Eclipse and everyone was dead and the food was gone. Don't worry if you miss Kaocho like me, I will probably devote at least one chapter to it.

Also, I liked that the king's name was King Wo because _wŏ_ (我) means "I" in Mandarin Chinese and he is definitely a selfish king.

Another thing. Why am I allowing Veriti to beat Aegersus? I feel like he's smart, but lazy, leaving the puzzles to the Adepts he's manipulating to solve.

One last thing. I took some liberties with how Veriti will get the well going and how much of the well Aegersus can fix. It's not going to be exactly like DD. And I made some things up about the interior of the Barai Temple.


	8. Ai-Folly quest pt 1

The Uncharted Isles

Chapter 7: Ai-Folly quest part one: the request

Veriti squeezed the Djinni tightly, expecting the impact to be hard. In response, Surge put up a big protective aura around her in an exaggeration of protecting himself against her.

"Stop the squeezing," Surge yelled at her. "I'm not a bear! Besides, you're getting in the way of my fun."

"Fun?"

"Waterslide, silly! Wow, you are nothing like the princess I know."

Closing her eyes tightly, she felt herself slide against a gush of water. It was more terrifying than fun.

"It's over," she sighed, releasing Surge.

"Yeah," the Djinni glared unhappily. "And you didn't even seem to enjoy it."

"What do you expect?" she protested. "I felt a strange certainty that I was going to die."

"You-you-you tricked me," the blue creature glared. "You said you were a princess. Every Mercury princess loves water."

"Not sure what you're talking about, but I do hope that you would tell me more about that princess though. How would I know if I have heard of her?"

"I only get to meet her sometimes," he stated with slight sadness. "Anyway, let's not dwell on it."

Finding her waist deep in cool flowing water, she slowly made her way to the opposite side of the room. At the center of the room, she noticed there were three concentric rings of red, blue, and teal bricks on the floor that formed a slight depression where some water flowed out of. She heard a loud splash behind her signaling that Aegersus was right behind her.

"Surge, I'm tired," she complained. "Can't you swim me to the other side of the room?"

"No, sorry, lady," he replied. "You're much too big."

"I guess I'm not princess anymore. Is that right?"

The blue Djinni made a strange expression as if he was blushing and quickly turned away, seeking a naughty diversion from the serious nature of the conversation. He did not like to be sad. That's why he had made his Djinn friends come over and play although Mercury wasn't their element.

With slight jealousy, Veriti watched Surge swim across the water so easily he might as well have had air inside him. The blue Djinn jumped up and down, either taunting her for being slow or encouraging her to hurry up.

When she finally reached the wide steps that led out of the water, she found that the top platform was entirely out of the water and made of an elegant white marble warmed by the sunlight. Stunned by the beauty of its creation, she walked a few steps back to get the whole view of its splendor. The energetic bouncing of the blue Djinni knocked her out of her daze.

"Yay, now I can play here again," he grinned at her. "I swear I have one friend around here somewhere."

"?"

Ignoring her confused gaze, he tried jumping as high as he could on little puddles of water that hardly supported him. Unfortunately for Surge, he could only get so high before falling.

"Where is she hiding?" he asked with a rather puzzled expression.

"What are you talking about? That princess again?"

"No, though she does have a princess attitude. Obviously, you wouldn't know her."

The blue Djinn bounced across the room, leaving the princess somewhat alone. Glancing down at the marble surface at her feet, she marveled at how well-preserved it was. In fact, it was so polished that she could see her dripping wet reflection on the surface. Self-consciously, she removed her outer robe and wrung some of the water out of it before putting it back on.

It was such a tiring temple. To think there were so many puzzles that lay within when I have only been on one floor of the temple to pray, she thought. Lying down on the smooth marble in exhaustion, she saw Aegersus dousing yet another large bowl with water on one side of a balance beam. The unfilled bowl on the other side rose up in response. Aegersus disappeared from sight and reappeared on the floor above to fill the other bowl. Glancing upward to look for the source of light, she saw a small geometric dome made of circles and triangles perhaps two hundred meters high or more where the sun radiated through.

The sound of a noisy rush of water and the large-scale movement of the marble platform and steps caused her to shift her attention back to aqueduct and move closer to the center so she wouldn't fall off. As soon as the bowl was filled, the water of the lowest level dipped lower and the waterfalls from the arches ceased. Instead, she noticed that the water was diverted through the large central channel of the aqueduct they had been standing on. More steps emerged from the marble platform, elevating the statues and the circular carving of a face even more like steps to heaven. To her astonishment, the face seemed to smile for a second, Veriti observed. No, perhaps it was just a trick of the sunlight angle.

Finally, the flow of the water stopped changing, leaving the water at the lowest level to be no longer turbulent but calm. Surely, there must be an even greater change outside the temple, she thought with a triumphant expression.

"Princess, are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine," she responded, standing up. "Just cold and wet."

As the princess walked closer to the bowl affixed at the center, Aegersus watched her examine the gnarled tree-looking face between two statues. Placing one hand on the nose, she jumped back startled by her discovery.

"That thing rudely refuses to tell me its secrets," he told her with a twinge of frustration.

Glancing back at him, she responded, "Maybe you just have to ask nicely."

"Well then, you ask it," he said. "I'm not asking that pesky thing more than once. It sounds like begging, which I'm not capable of."

"Very well," she replied. The corners of her mouth tightened slightly as if she were showing him a determined smile.

Instead of walking towards the face, Aegersus watched her take several steps in the opposite direction – the direction of the ledge they had fallen or jumped off of. She looked around, even taking a few steps into the shadow water.

"What are you doing now?" Aegersus asked.

Ignoring him with her back still facing him, she peered in the distance to see three almost indistinct dots bouncing in the distance. One was red, one was brown, and the other seemed to blend into the water each time it landed.

"Waterdrop," she called out, but her voice could not travel far enough to where they were playing.

"Hmm," she thought aloud quietly. "Maybe I should use the forbidden words... but in a sentence."

Aegersus raised an eyebrow at her childishness.

"I'm going to say it. It doesn't have to be loud or does it?" she announced quietly. "Surge, I summon thee by the power of Mercury."

 _Poof._ One of the dots in the distance disappeared in a small cloud of light that faded away before appearing right in front of Veriti.

A cute growling noise caught her attention.

"You interrupted my thousand-year anniversary playdate," Surge whined.

"Well that's not an anniversary, is it? Besides, you get to play with me daily ...and frustrate me for running away each time like this is all a game," she assured him. "How do you think that feels?"

"Funny," the Djinni beamed.

She frowned.

"Anyway, I summoned you for a reason," she began. "Since you probably lived here since when the temple was built, can you tell me that old man's name. I mean that face over there. What do you call your grandfather?"

"Hmm. Typical. Always referring to things as a human would," Surge whined. "Anyway, I don't need to tell you anything about him – Mr. Face, which I call him. You already know him. Technically, he calls himself Ai-Ward after Bar-Ai Temple."

"Huh?" she offered him a look of confusion. "I never met the face before. And what is a Ward?"

"Oh. I mean he already granted you the Insight Glass, which he is supposed to be guarding at all times until he deems worthy person emerges," Surge stated boredly as if the whole conversation was matter-of-fact. "Remember the time when you were praying as usual and then I dropped a little glass dish on your head? I had to be real careful not to get caught since I was floating right over your head. It was pretty funny that you just picked it up and continued praying."

" _You_ did that?!" Veriti exclaimed a little crossly, remembering vividly ten years ago when the event first happened. "So Ai-Ward, explain what that is again?"

"To put it simple, the Jenei were really ahead of their time," Surge explained. "The Wards, who make up the Ward system, are essentially like high tech robots."

"Robots?"

"Ugh, humans, why do I need to explain," he whined a bit before continuing. "Imagine a machine of the ancients that powers up whenever a living being walks by. Then, if you say the right password, it will tell you secrets it has been sitting on for centuries. I'm telling you though, Mr. Face does his job well but he is quite an odd one. After all, he resets the system and moves things around when intruders are inside the temple each time."

"Ok," she responded walking closer to the face, which had been activated for awhile since Aegersus was standing in front of it the whole time. "You don't really make sense, but let's give this a try."

"It is a great honor to meet you, venerable guardian, defender of the Insight Glass, Ai-Ward," she bowed deeply before the face.

It smiled broadly and it was such a warm expression that Veriti giggled.

"And it has been a long time since this handsome face has been met with such beauty besides the Mercury goddess," Ai-Ward responded. "Unlike that rude one over there. Too bad I'll have to present it to his line somewhere along the way."

Even Aegersus could hear, the Djinn snickered at that. Veriti blushed at his cheeky compliment, not noticing the subtle jibe at Aegis. Aegersus, of course, thought Ai-Ward was annoying like the Wise One. It piqued his interest though. Whatever could he have meant by "present it to his line," he thought. For one thing, I'm not even considering a relationship much less a child that would be a hindrance to my goals. What a presumptuous little -I mean big-headed, Aegersus glared slightly. This was unnoticed by all except for Ai-Ward

"I didn't come empty-handed. I have a gift for you, venerable Ai-Ward," she continued, reaching into her pocket and thrusting the Insight Glass forward to present it to him. The Djinn and Aegersus noticed it glowed whenever she touched it or even just glanced at it. "Here you go, it's for the next bearer of Insight. Your assistant dropped on me while I was praying."

'No. No," the Ward insisted. "It was meant for you. The Jenei have brilliantly programmed it so I will only get it back once you pass from this world."

"Really?" she smiled. "Well I thank you for this blessing. The Insight Glass has given me great wisdom. Actually, when I was praying ten years ago, I asked for some way to beat my brother as a better ruler, because at the time, he was excelling at everything while I really did not feel cut out as a ruler. Then, it came to me as a miracle."

"Ah, someone who still reveres the handiwork of the Jenei and is a devout believer in the will of the Waelda tree spirits," the Ward responded before suddenly speaking in an automated way.

"Behold the face, kindly cover it with the Ouroboros. Cover my face and you can drink more."

Then, to Veriti's disappointment, it de-animated like it was a stone statue again before she could ask it to explain. Its face began to shrink, leaving behind a mask that resembled the Ward's face exactly in its place. To the Djinn's surprise, Aegis reached forward and put the mask away without hesitation.

"Whatever could that mean?" she thought aloud.

"After we fix the well with this mask, we go to the Ouroboros to give in to this being's frivolous demands," Aegersus suggested.

Surprisingly, Mercury perked up and snickered at his own interpretation.

"What is it now, Surge?"

"I know exactly what he means," the Djinn said confidently. "While this one, I can't really remember whether it was in the prophecy or not. He doesn't tell me things like that. I translate it to ' _I wanna have a face like Tret but handsomer because he smiled at me once before falling asleep. It was a smile that enchants beautiful tree spirits like Laurel_.' "

"You mean to say, this Ward robot is sending us on personal missions for his folly until we get the real message," Aegis glared, pulling out the mask as thinking of a way to punish it.

It was inaminate, but all seemed to notice the slight tug at the corner of the Ward mask's mouth, a naughty smirk.

"I guess we will have to succumb to its demands no matter how silly you think they are," Veriti replied.

Surge shook his head.

"And all this could be avoided if Mr. Face decided to go clean shaven like Tret," Surge laughed.

"Easy for you to say," the brown Djinni responded. "It's the Jenei that got to decide and maybe the Exalthi too."

"Damn, they should have known," the red Djinni added. "Tret is always in style."

"Instead of wasting time here talking, let's get back to the Alchemy Well," Alex announced, grabbing Veriti's arm gently to teleport.

"Waaait," Surge cried. "I got to say bye to my buddies."

"Yes, let's hear their names," Veriti said mischievously.

"Not a chance," the red one said confidently. "Unless you want to battle us now."

"You told them your name without battling her?" the brown one asked Surge. "Wow, you are in some deep trouble. You don't even know if she can use Psynergy and the princess will be pretty mad at you."

"Heheheh," Surge laughed nervously. "Gotta go. Teleport now. Be back later so we can test this party's worthiness."

"Yes and when you come back, make sure to bring back our Venus friend. We haven't seen him in awhile but theoretically he should still be hiding in Ayuthay."

More friends, Veriti thought. Right at home, there was another Djinn. Wow, I am really missing out.

Sadly, Surge thought to himself as the party of three – Aegersus, Veriti, and himself – walked out of the Barai Temple. Three Djinn against two maybe one Adept. I think I will get my freedom back pretty soon, he hoped.

* * *

A/N: I'm back after a year of neglect. I still plan to work on this a few more times this year. So anticipate or yell at me in reviews to keep updating.

For the design of the next chapters, I'm going to make the titles of chapters like mini-quests that are part of the storyline so that it will feel a bit gameplay. Ok, maybe I'm being a bit optimistic and still hoping to see Golden Sun on one of the newer game systems. I'm not a diehard fan, but I am a bit of a retro gamer. I just remember starting with DD and then going backward from there. It was annoying hearing all those references to the previous game, but nonetheless it made me want to play the games in order just to have a good background. As a classic/retro gamer, I was impressed with the graphics on the older systems and the storyline was not bad for the first few games and interested me enough to go through them all. Although DD has some weaker point in the plot compared to older games (like Nowell and Piers...ya know you have left Piers in Lemuria and all would be normal but no Camelot had to be weird and cross generations for this to occur, it's like marrying a friend's children...see it's strange), I still hope GS will continue.

Before I go on a nostalgic rant about GS, I just wanted to thank the reviewers, followers/favs. From my perspective, this is actually still the beginning because NOT A SPOILER: I'm going to organize a few clusters of chapters as quests as part of the storyline and this is the first quest Veriti is going on and there's definitely at least two others because Veriti needs to visit two other towns as the events of DD will begin to unravel. So you can expect, Part One of maybe Four is completed so far. The events leading up to the war will be very interesting.

Also, I'm not sure about how you feel about the Djinn. If you feel they are being too annoying or would like them to have a bit less of a presence, just let me know. I like to keep them in since they are so important/helpful in battle especially to restore fallen party members or restore PP.

Did anyone catch in the first chapter a fact I made up about Alex? I made him purposely never carry Waters of Life because he expects no one in his party will ever need to revive himself.

Anyway, stay tuned.


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